This study aims to reflect on the views of public sector managers in relation to possible ways to cope with austerity budgeting and its impact on public services provided to local communities across a subregion. The investigation draws on empirical research based on a series of facilitated strategic workshops delivered to over 400 UK local authority middle managers. The findings indicate a suggested process model and framework to enable the implementation of a customer-driven approach to the delivery of local community public services. The intent of this study was to enable understanding of a particular case and to share that new understanding more widely. The overall approach is based on a ‘common-sense’ view of generalisability, in which readers will find value if the material resonates with their experience. This study is of potential benefit to researchers and those involved in developing effective and sustainable methods of coping with increasingly severe budgetary constraints on public sector local community provision. The study contributes to the extant literature by investigation of practitioner perspectives on these issues.

peaking to his son after a cataclysmic fire destroyed much of Thomas Edison’s life’s work, the prolific inventor famously said: “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.” (Clemmer, 1999: 94) This quote on coping with failure is one of many to offer inspiration during dif- ficult times. Indeed, any number of entrepreneurs, leaders or captains of industry say the foundation of their success was a positive attitude to failure. There can be no doubt that there is much to learn from mistakes, mishaps, failures, and disasters. In fact, it would be very bad management not to seek to do so. Whilst learning from failure is a fundamental aspect of lifelong learning, it should also be a basic tenet of good management. Therefore, this chapter aims to do three things. First, it explores the nature of management learning within the context of learning from failure. Second, it examines the range of management disciplines, approaches, and techniques which event managers might use to help them avoid failures. Third, it addresses each of these within the context of events management failures. This chapter is thus designed to both underpin the case studies presented throughout the book, and to help inform the reader’s understanding and application of the lessons to be learned.

No abstract

An analysis of the transformations of leadership and direction-setting in place marketing: a UK contextual view and case.